Tigers strike late, hold on to defeat Hutchinson 2-1 at Plains District Tourney

Riding dominant pitching until its bats could finally break through, the fourth-seeded Cowley College baseball team rallied past fifth-seeded Hutchinson Community College by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday at the Plains District Baseball Tournament held at Dean Evans Field in Salina, KS.

Cowley (43-10) advances to face eighth-seed Coffeyville (35-18) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, the Red Ravens upset top-seeded Barton County (42-12) by a score of 11-2. Hutchinson (39-20) falls into the losers' bracket, where it will face Barton County at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Hutchinson took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Anthony Mazza tripled off the left-field wall and later scored on an A.J. Mustow groundout to first.

With Cowley starting pitcher Kyler Zagar and Hutchinson left-hander Lachlan Rosser dealing on the mound, the score would remain 1-0 into the eighth inning.

Rosser, who retired the first nine batters he faced, allowed only five hits in seven innings before being removed from the game after hitting the leadoff batter in the bottom of the eighth.

After stranding six baserunners over the fourth through sixth innings, Cowley finally broke through with Rosser gone from the game. Hutchinson relievers Sean Combs (2-2) and Colin Flores were unable to maintain the 1-0 lead as Cowley scored two runs in the inning, with the go-ahead run coming on a squeeze bunt by Kade Sheldon that scored Dax McCaskill from third.

After Zagar went the first six innings on the mound, allowing five hits and one run, while striking out six and walking two, sophomore Mitchell Johnson (1-0) came on and struck out four over two innings of relief.

With Cowley leading 2-1, the Tigers turned to closer Barrett Morgan to preserve the win. The tall righthander struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fourth save, and the Tigers rushed the field in celebration.

McCaskill and Logan Groh led Cowley at the plate with two hits apiece.

Score by inning:                R H E

Hutch  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 5 0

Cowley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 x – 2 8 0